Queen Anne – 18 Pregnancies, No Living Children – the stars apart kate November 12, 2012 Thats terrible… I think at the back of my mind, where the facts I learnt at GCSE history live, I did know about this. One bit that strikes me is that at the start of 1687 she had a miscarriage and then lost both surviving children to small pox within a month! It is totally tragic but I bet this kind of thing happens today in developing countries. I spent some time working as a teacher in rural Kenya and there was a clinic in the same compound as the school (it was a convent community centre type place) Anyway in the month I was there we had several people bring in babies dying of tummy bugs that would be so quickly treated in the U.K and if you were premature then that was it, no NICU. Also, no proper operating theatre so if the baby was in distress there were no ceaserians, you just had to wait and see unless you had money and transport to go several hours in to the city to the big hospital- which most people didn’t.

At least my boys, at 24 weeks +3 stood a chance here and were well cared for. they certainly wouldn’t there or indeed in the 1600s! Natasha Papousek November 12, 2012 Oh. Oh, how awful! How tragic! How did she manage to keep going? I can’t even imagine. I’ve had my own miscarriages (one in England when we lived there in 1994), and I eventually just stopped getting pregnant because I couldn’t deal with losing them all. What depth of tragedy for the women of earlier times. marwil November 13, 2012 What a terrible way to live back then, really horrific to lose so many babies. I can’t imagine how she could go on trying, how much heartbreak can one person hold I wonder. November 13, 2012 Wow. I can’t even imagine what her life must’ve been like losing that many children. Missymaise November 14, 2012 Wow that is incredibly sad – and to think she was one of the priviledged people what happened to the poor?!

I heard a programme on the radio a while ago about a figure from history (I don’t recall who) Who had had 9 pregnancies and only 1 surviving child. In so many ways I’m so grateful to be alive now and have the health care that I do, knowing that my stillbirth was due to a placenta problem and that they will induce me early to try and prevent it happening again, along with loads of scans, aspirin and monitoring cord blood flow. I guess there are still places in the world where this could happen. It reminds me to count my blessings even after stillbirth. Thanks Fiona Caroline November 15, 2012 oh how awful. Given the time, the lack of support for such a horrible thing and how she was just expected to, and did, continue to try and produce a living heir to the throne – all the while probably not being allowed to publicly grieve for any of those babies. Just awful. So heartbreaking. Nick May 2, 2013 A particularly dreadful feature is that the one child who did survive infancy died at the age of eleven – William, Duke of Gloucester.

It may reveal something about the other tragic deaths that poor William’s life was beset by illness – fevers, fits and water on the brain. Of course, he was so precious to the Stuart lineage that every quack remedy available was administered, making his short life all the more miserable. However, from a medical point of view it is worth pointing out that Anne’s sister Mary married her first cousin William (becoming William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution) and the two failed to produce any children – inter-breeding was a feature of European royalty with fairly tragic results at times. Anne married a relative – although a little more distant – in George of Denmark … perhaps no co-incidence that they produced so many frail offspring. Astonishingly, Anne did her duty and ascended to the throne on the death of her brother-in-law even though she was destroyed physically by her preganacies. Legend has it that she became so inactive she gorged herself half to death and had to be buried in a square coffin. Terribly sad – she was bitterly unhappy but felt unable to side-step her royal duty to produce an heir, then take the throne when she couldn’t.

Anonymous August 27, 2013 Just returned from the U.K. and discovered that she was wed to a man who came to her with rampant veneral disease. this is most likely why her children died as the disease is fatal to a fetus or young child. Anonymous August 27, 2013 The guides at the palace of the Duke of Marlborough told us the story that when Queen Anne was told that her husband to be Prince George of Denmark was a round about and had veneral disease that she cried and cried but did her duty. The result was 18 dead children now thought to have died because of infection in utero. Horrible that she was forced to marry a diseased man out of royal duty. Bibiana January 6, 2015 You know, it was not so long ago that families EXPECTED to lose at least one child. This was a fact of life. Thank God for modern medicine. Yvonne Raptis December 30, 2015 Hello, I’m very interestd in British history and the story of Queen Anne is very sad.

However the Queen Anne referred to on Henry VIII’s tombstone is more likely to be Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife and mother of Queen Elizabeth I. After giving birth to Elizabeht, Anne had several miscarriages, probably because she was resus negative. sissons.lisa@gmail.com January 22, 2016 Anne Boleyn was not buried with Henry VIII. He chopped off her head for goodness sakes. Do some research. dawon February 3, 2016 Why she keeped getting pregnant over and over and over again i think the reason she kepped misscarring is probaly of diebeties or weight gaining Marianne June 27, 2016 Until recently, it was fashionable for historians to argue that parents in the past didn’t feel much affection for their children. They couldn’t afford to. They knew they were almost certainly going to lose some of them so they hardened themselves. This is no longer a popular viewpoint. There is a touching story of Anne and her husband holding hands and crying after one – or was it two of their children in quick succession – had just died of smallpox.

Given the sad story of the Indian dentist who died of blood poisoning because fanatical doctors in Ireland refused to remove the foetus that was poisoning her, I am a little surprised that Anne managed to survive with a foetus dead inside her for a month before it was expelled naturally. People spoke casually of how fat Anne was when she came to the throne, almost unable to walk, and that in the end her coffin was almost square. She was also known as Brandy Nan, implying that she had hit the bottle. All this was recounted with no sympathy whatsoever but rather with mockery. Is it that a lifetime of almost constant pregnancies, all ultimately futile, was such a common experience, that people of the time were callous about it? laf July 7, 2016 The Anne mentioned on the tomb is Queen of Anne of the Stuart family. She had around 15 (at least) miscarriages and still births. It’s theorized her husband had venereal diseases before they were even wed, which could account for the obstetrical issues with Queen Anne. But obviously, we can never know for sure. But yes, it’s definitely not Anne Boleyn that’s mentioned here on the tomb.

Queen Anne | Britroyals Born: February 6, 1665 at St. James Palace, London Parents: James II and Anne Hyde Relation to Elizabeth II: 2nd cousin 8 times removed House of: Stuart Ascended to the throne: March 8, 1702 aged 37 years Crowned: April 23, 1702 at Westminster Abbey Married: George, son of Frederick III of Denmark Children: Eighteen, including miscarriages and still-born, of whom only one William survived to age of 11 Died: August 1, 1714 at Kensington Palace , aged 49 years, 5 months, and 22 days Buried at: Westminster Reigned for: 12 years, 4 months, and 24 days Succeeded by: her 3rd cousin George of Hanover Anne was the second daughter of James, Duke of York, who became James II, and his first wife, Anne Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. Anne and her elder sister Mary received a Protestant upbringing although their father James converted to Catholicism and remarried.

In 1683 Anne married Prince George of Denmark (1653�1708). She had between 16 and 18 pregnancies but only one child survived - William, Duke of Gloucester who died aged 11 of smallpox in 1700. Her sister Mary married William of Orange but Anne was forbidden by her father to visit her in the Netherlands. When William landed in England in 1688 to take the throne, Anne on the influence of her close friend Sarah Churchill (1650�1744) the wife of John Churchill (1650�1722), supported her sister and brother-in-law against her father James. Churchill was created Duke of Marlborough by William when he was crowned King William III and her sister Queen Mary II. Anne detested her brother-in-law, and the Churchills' influence led her briefly during William�s reign to engage in Jacobite intrigues. Mary died in 1694 and on William�s death in 1702 Anne succeeded to the throne as Queen Anne.

When she was crowned in April 1702 Anne was 37 years old and after her many pregnancies had poor health and no longer her youthful figure. She was shy and stubborn and very different from her outgoing sister Mary. Anne and Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, remained close friends � Anne addressed Sarah as �Mrs Freeman� and she called Anne �Mrs Morley�. Sarah�s husband the Duke of Marlborough commanded the English Army in the War of Spanish Succession, and won a series of victories over the French at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). The influence of the Churchill�s however began to decline and after a violent quarrel in 1710, Sarah Churchill was dismissed from court. Abigail Masham succeeded the duchess as Anne's favourite, using her influence to further the Tories. Towards the end of her life, Anne suffered from gout and she could hardly walk. On her death in 1714 her body had swollen so large that she was buried in an almost square coffin.

On the question of succession, Anne's family loyalty had convinced her that this should fall to her father's son by his second wife (Mary of Modena), James Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender. However, the Act of Settlement in 1701 ensured Protestant succession to the throne, and Anne was succeeded by George I, great-grandson of James I. Queen Anne's Signature Quotes: �She meant well and was not a fool; but nobody can maintain that she was wise, nor entertaining in conversation� � Sarah Churchill (about Queen Anne) �Queen Anne was the quintessence of ordinariness; she also had more than her fair share of small-mindedness, vulgarity and downright meanness� � Historian J.P. Kenyon �Cricket is not illegal, for it is a manly game� - Queen Anne. �Brandy Nan� � nickname for Queen Anne (who was reputedly fond of drink). Timeline for Queen Anne Frequently Asked Questions | Britroyals Frequently Asked Questions When did the last British King fight in a battle?

George II was the last British King to lead his army in person, during the War of the Austrian Succession, at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria, 27th June, 1743. The last English King to die in battle was Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire on 22 August 1485 defeated by Henry Tudor who became Henry VII ending the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster and starting the Tudor dynasty. The last British King to die in battle was James IV of Scotland killed at the Battle of Flodden Field in Northumberland on 9 September 1513 when the Scots invaded England hoping to take advantage of Henry VIII's absence in France, but were defeated by English forces under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. How far back can the British Royal Family trace their roots? Is Queen Elizabeth II really directly descended from Alfred the Great? She is the 32nd great granddaughter of King Alfred who 1,140 years ago was the first effective King of England. He ruled from 871 to 899. I thought that American Independence was in 1776.

Why is it quoted as 1783? The Continental Congress of the 13 American colonies declared independence in 1776. However, the war continued and independence from Britain was not achieved until the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Was George III really mad? For most of his reign King George III was an astute king and politician with a strong sense of duty. Later in his reign he suffered from recurrent and eventually permanent mental illness. This baffled medical science at the time, although it is now generally thought that he suffered from the inherited blood disease porphyria. He suffered his first attack in 1788 and by 1810 was unfit to rule. In 1811 his son George, Prince of Wales, became Regent for 9 years until his father died in 1820. Who would now be King or Queen if Edward VIII had not abdicated? Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 less than a year after becoming King to marry Wallis Simpson. His younger brother Bertie became King George VI and was the father of the present Queen Elizabeth II .

He died in 1952, and Edward who had no children died in 1972. So even if Edward had not abdicated Elizabeth would now be Queen. She would have come to the throne in 1972 instead of 1952. Why did Edward VIII have to give up the throne to marry a divorcee but Prince Charles is still in line to the throne? Royals who are divorced or marry divorcees do not lose their position in the line of succession. Edward VIII had a number of affairs with married women including Wallis Simpson who was already divorced and still married to her second husband. His parents King George V and Queen Mary did not approve and refused to meet her. When George V died Prime Minister Baldwin made it clear that the Government, popular opinion in the country and the oversees Dominions (now the Commonwealth nations) did not approve of his plans to marry Wallis. Social attitudes towards divorce and a women looking for a third marriage were considered scandalous at the time, and if Edward married against the advice of his Ministers it would have caused the Government to resign and a constitutional crisis. Edward chose to abdicate.

The 1772 Royal Marriages Act requires members of the Royal Family to obtain permission from the Sovereign to marry. Queen Elizabeth II gave her permission for Prince Charles to marry Camilla, and more recently for Prince William to marry Catherine Middleton. Would Princess Diana have become Queen? If Prince Charles had become King during their marriage then she would have been his consort with the title Queen Diana. They divorced in 1996 and she died in a car crash in Paris on 31st August 1997. Although popularly known as 'Princess Diana' this was not her title - because she became a princess by marrying Prince Charles her title was Princess Charles Philip Arthur George, Princess of Wales, or more simply Diana, Princess of Wales. Who is Prince Henry shown as fourth in line to the Throne? What about Prince Harry? Prince Harry's name is Henry Charles Albert David . Harry is his nickname Is Kate Middleton the first commoner to marry an heir to the throne? The Queen's husband Prince Philip is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria, Diana's family had titled ancestry and Camilla is the granddaughter of a baron.

Prince William's wife Catherine (Kate) nee Middleton comes from a middle class background with no aristocratic or titled connections. She is not however the first commoner to marry a future king. Notably Anne Hyde first wife of King James II, and Elizabeth Woodville, who married King Edward IV in 1464 and became a key figure in the Wars of the Roses were commoners with no direct connections to nobility. Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson but had already abdicated as King. Why are William and Harry referred to as Wales when their name is Windsor? Members of the Royal Family who are titled His (or Her) Royal Highness do not traditionally need or use a surname. Windsor is the name of the Royal House to which they belong. Their titles are HRH Prince William of Wales and HRH Prince Henry of Wales . During their tours of duty with the Armed Forces, the Princes chose to show their surname as Wales. Members of the royal family who are not HRH (for example Prince Edward's children Louise and James) use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. Why are Prince Andrew's daughters princesses when Prince Edward's daughter is not?

Also why do Princess Anne's children Peter and Zara not have titles? You become a prince by being the son of a prince, or princess by being the daughter of a prince or by marrying a prince. So Prince Andrew's daughters are Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. The Queen's daughter Princess Anne has the title Princess Royal, but her children Peter and Zara do not have titles. It is traditional that they would have been made a Duke and Duchess or Earl and Countess, but it is understood that Princess Anne asked the Queen not to give her children titles so they could live as private individuals. Prince Edward declined to be made a Duke on his marriage and became Earl of Wessex, so that his wife Sophie is Countess of Wessex. The Royal Family is descended directly from the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Wessex. On their marriage is was anounced that their children would not be titled Prince and Princess but as the children of an Earl, so they are Lady Louise and James Viscount Severn. Why are Roman Catholics excluded from the Line of Succession to the British throne? In 1534 Henry VII I broke with the Church of Rome over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and made himself Head of the Church of England.

Every King or Queen since Elizabeth 1 has held the title 'Supreme Governor of the Church of England' and 'Defender of the Faith'. As it is a Protestant Church all those in the Royal line of succession and their spouses have to be Protestants. The Act of Settlement (1701) laid down that only Protestant heirs of Princess Sophia, granddaughter of James I, may succeed to the British throne. Neither Catholics, nor those who marry a Catholic, nor those born out of wedlock, may remain in the line of succession. Prince Charles has let it be known that when he becomes King he will take the title 'Defender of Faith' instead of' 'Defender of the Faith' to include faiths other than the established Church of England. In Aprl 2013 the Succession to the Crown Bill 2013 changed the succession laws so that a person is not disqualified from succeeding to the Crown as a result of marrying a Roman Catholic . They will however not be allowed to become a Roman Catholic as the British Monarch is head of the Protestant Church of England. Why are younger brothers higher in the line of succession than their older sisters?

The line of succession to the British throne used until recently the system of male primogeniture whereby younger sons have precedence over their older sisters. So Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are above their older sister Princess Anne in line of succession, and Prince Edward's son James is above his sister Louise. While male precedence may now be considered to be out of line with current 'equal-rights' thinking and is proposed to be changed, it has not prevented some of the most successful and longest reigning British monarchs from being queens including Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. It does allow the succession to inherit through the female line, so the children of daughters can succeed to the throne as is the case with the current Queen. The French and German monarchies used a system of Salic law whereby females had no right to inherit and could not pass it to their offspring. The last time that the British throne passed to a son in precedence to a first born daughter was when Queen Victoria's son Edward VII inherited the throne over his older sister Princess Victoria. Had she become queen she would have been Queen Victoria II and her son Kaiser Wilhelm II would have also been King William V and ruled over a huge combined British and German Empire.

This could have significantly changed 20th century European history with the 1st World War unlikely to have happened as it did but replaced with other nationalist, republican and fascist struggles leading possibly to the downfall of both monarchies and a changed map of Europe. In Aprl 2013 the Succession to the Crown Bill 2013 changed the succession laws so that a person is able to marry a Roman Catholic and remain in the line of successsion, and the right of male primogeniture no longer applies to children born after 28 October 2011. It meant that if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first child had been a girl and their second a boy, male primogenture would no longer have applied and he would not have had precedence over his older sister. However, their first child born on 22 July 2013 was a boy Prince George so it did not apply. Their second child Princess Charlotte will not lose her place even if she has a younger brother. This current line of succession is shown at Line of Succession. King William IV was 64 years old when he became king in 1830 and succeeded his elder brother George IV.

Prince Charles the current heir to the throne became 68 on 14th November 2016 and is now the longest waiting heir to the throne. Edward VII became king after the death of his mother Queen Victoria in 1901 when he was 59 years and 2 months old. Kings & Queens by age of accession to the throne . Could the Queen choose to pass the throne directly to Prince William? The Queen cannot choose. Prince Charles as her eldest son and Prince of Wales is next in line to the throne and will become King as long as he is living when the Queen dies or should she abdicate. It would require a change to British constitutional law for this not to happen. Will Charles become King George VII? Charles can choose to rule as King Charles III or take another name. Kings often take a different regnal (ruling) name from their first given name. Charles' grandfather George VI was Prince Albert ("Bertie") before he became king, and his great great grandfather Edward VII was also Prince Albert.

King Charles I was beheaded in 1649 after the English Civil War, and Charles II was popularly known as the 'merrie' monarch as he had so many mistresses. Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) the Stuart pretender to the throne styled himself Charles III before he was defeated at Culloden in 1746. It is thought possible that Prince Charles may choose to become King George VII after his grandfather. Will Camilla become Queen? Prince Charles and Camilla were married on 9th April 2005. She was given the title Duchess of Cornwall because of sensitivity following the death of Diana. As the wife of the Prince of Wales her title should be Princess of Wales and, although before the marriage it was announced that she would take the title Princess consort, she is expected to become Queen consort when Charles becomes King. Is there a royal connection between Camilla's family and the royal family? In 1889 Camilla's great-grandmother Alice Keppel was the mistress of Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales. Edward VII was the great-great-grandfather of Prince Charles the current Prince of Wales. Why is the Queen's husband Prince Philip not King Philip?

The husband of a queen is known as a Prince consort and does not become King. Queen Victoria's husband was Prince Albert, and Queen Elizabeth's husband is Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh . The wife of a king is a Queen consort and does take the title Queen although she does not rule as the monarch. The only exceptions were William III and Mary II who ruled jointly from 1689 until Mary's death in 1694. Were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip related before their marriage? The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are both great great grandchildren of Queen Victoria . The Queen is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria’s eldest son King Edward VII and the Duke of Edinburgh is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Alice. What relation is Queen Elizabeth II to King George III ? George III was her 3rd great grandfather. If you you follow the line of succession on her grandfather's side - George VI (father), George V (grandfather), Edward VII (great grandfather), Victoria (2nd great grandmother) , Edward Duke of Kent (3rd great grandfather), George III (4th great grandfather) - then he was her 4th great grandfather.

However her grandmother Queen Mary of Teck was also descended from George III - she and George V were 2nd cousins once removed. If you follow Queen Elizabeth's line through her grandmother - George VI (father), Queen Mary (grandmother), Mary Adelaide (great grandmother), Adolphus of Hanover (2nd great grandfather), George III (3rd great-grandfather) - he is more closely related as her 3rd great grandfather. You can see this on the Royal Family tree . How rich is Queen Elizabeth? Her estimated personal fortune is around £350 million (US $435M). The Duchy of Lancaster estate, a portfolio of land, property and assets, is held in trust for the monarch and worth around £348 million. She also owns properties privately that have never been valued, including Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle reputedly worth £160 million and the Castle of Mey. Her investment portfolio in blue-chip British companies is around £110 million, her personal art collection is worth at least £2 million, and she owns personal jewellery and a large stamp collection built up by her grandfather George V.

Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Crown Jewels and the Royal Art Collection are held in trust for the nation. The Crown Estate, which manages on behalf of the monarch the property and land owned by the Crown, including properties in Regent Street and St James in London, offshore wind farms around Britain's coast and rural estates in Scotland, is worth around £11 billion and generates £285 million (2014/15) income a year. This income is given to the national Treasury for use in public finances, in return for a grant (£38 million in 2012) for the cost of running the monarchy. This arrangement dated from 1760 when George III gave up the right to the income from the Crown's estates in return for a Civil List paid to members of the Royal Family. In 2013 this changed to a Sovereign Support Grant based on 15% of the income from the Crown Estate.

This means that for the year from April 2016 the nation will keep £242.2 million of the Crown Estates income, and the monarchy will receive £42.7 miilion towards the cost of the Royal household, their travel, attending formal functions and repairs to buildings including Kensington Palace which is the home of Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Does the Queen pay taxes? Yes, in 1992 The Queen offered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on a voluntary basis. Since 1993, her personal income has been taxable as for any other UK taxpayer. Does the Queen rule or does Parliament? The British Monarchy is a constitutional monarchy in which the King or Queen reigns as Head of State but with limits to their power, and the day-to-day government is carried out by Parliament. The political party with the most elected seats in the House of Commons elects a Prime Minister who is invited by the monarch to form a government. A new Parliament is opened by the monarch in an official ceremony, and the Prime Minister during his or her term in office regularly meets with the King or Queen to discuss political matters and events.

How many British Prime Ministers and US Presidents have there been during the Queen's reign? Queen Elizabeth II has worked with 13 different Prime Ministers since she became Queen: Winston Churchill (1951-55), Anthony Eden (1955-59), Harold Macmillan (1959-63), Alec Douglas-Home (1963-64), Harold Wilson (1964-70 & 1974-76), Edward Heath (1970-74), James Callaghan (1976-79), Margaret Thatcher (1979-90), John Major (1990-97), Tony Blair (1997-2007), Gordon Brown (2007-2010), David Cameron (2010-2016) and Theresa May (2016 - present).

There have been 12 US Presidents during her reign: Harry Truman (1945-1953), Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61), John Kennedy (1961-63), Lyndon Johnson (1963-69), Richard Nixon (1969-74), Gerald Ford, (1974-77), James Carter (1977-81), Ronald Reagan (1981-89), George Bush (1989-93), William Clinton (1993-2001), George W Bush (2001-09), Barack Obama, (2009-present). There have been 7 Archbishops of Canterbury and 7 Popes during her reign. Which King or Queen reigned for the longest time? The longest reigning British monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who including today has reigned for 64 years, 11 months, and 13 days which is the longest reign in over 1,200 years of British History.

On 10th September 2015 she surpassed her great great grandmother Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years, 7 months and 2 days from 1837-1901. See Kings and Queens by length of reign . Which King or Queen reigned for the shortest time? Edward VI named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his successor and she was proclaimed queen on July 10, 1553 by her father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland. She was 16 years old. Meanwhile Edward's half sister Mary eldest daughter of Henry VIII was also proclaimed queen. The situation was resolved 9 days later on July 19 1553 when Mary arrived in London and was proclaimed as the rightful queen. Mary was crowned Queen on Oct 1, 1553. Lady Jane Grey was executed on February 12, 1554. Another who was not crowned was Edward V . His father Edward IV died on April 9, 1483, but he was usurped by his uncle Richard III who proclaimed himself king 2 months later on June 26 and crowned on July 6, 1483.

The date that Edward died is unknown - he was presumed murdered with his brother in the Tower of London at sometime in September that year. The shortest reigning crowned king was Edmund II for 7 months from 25 April - 30 November 1016. Kings and Queens by length of reign . Which King had the most illegitimate children? Henry I is purported to have had 20-25 illegitimate children by at least six women, but few details are known. Charles II famously fathered numerous illegitimate children, of whom he acknowledged fourteen. His mistresses included Lucy Walter (2 children), Moll Davis (1) , Nell Gwyne (2), Louise de Keroualle (1), Barbara Villiers (6), Elizabeth Killigrew (1), Catherine Pegg (1), Frances Stuart (became the face of Britannia on coins), and at least five others. William IV had 10 illegitimate children born between 1794 and 1807 by his mistress actress Dorothea Bland (known as Mrs Jordan). Is David Cameron descended from royalty? How close would he be in line to the throne?

David Cameron, the previous British Prime Minister, is the great, great, great grandson of Elizabeth Fitzclarence (Jan 17, 1801 - Jan 16, 1856) who was an illegitimate daughter of William IV and his mistress Irish actress Dorothea Bland who was known by her stage name as 'Mrs Jordan'. They lived together for 20 years when he was Duke of Clarence and had 5 sons and 5 daughters. When he became heir to the throne William married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen but they had no surviving children so when he died having no legitimate children his niece Victoria became Queen. David Cameron is the 5th cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II, but illegitimate lines have no claim to the throne. The Royal Marriage act of 1772, instigated by William IV's father George III, requires members of the royal family to obtain permission from the monarch to marry. So William and Dorothea would have had to get permission from his brother George IV to marry and it would also have required ratification by Parliament.

She was Catholic and would have had to renounce her Catholic faith for William to remain in the line of succession to the throne. In the very unlikely event that they had been allowed to marry and had done so before their children were born then their eldest son George Augustus would have had a claim to the throne. His great grandson Geoffrey Fitzclarence, 5th Earl of Munster, was a Conservative politician in Winston Churchill's government. David Cameron's line through their 3rd daughter Elizabeth would have had only a very remote claim. How big was Henry VIII? When Henry VII I came to the throne in April 1509 he was 17 years old, 6ft 2in tall, and had pale skin, blue eyes and auburn hair. He was physically active and enjoyed sport, hunting and jousting. A Venetian visitor described him as 'His Majesty is the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on, a vigorous player of tennis, rider of horses, and skilled wrestler'. However he became fatter with age and gluttony.

His suits of armour show that in 1512 he had a 32 inch waist , which increased to 35 inch by 1520s, and then grew to an enormous 54 inch by 1545. He suffered increasingly of ill health, swelling of the joints and an ulcerated leg claimed to have been caused by a jousting accident. His pain added to his mood swings and unpredictable temper. In 1544 his portrait shows him puffy and bloated. By 1546 he could hardly walk and was carried around on a wooden chair . He had to be winched on to his horse and his armour cut open to accommodate his swollen legs. He is estimated to have weighed 25 stone (350 lbs or 158kg) when he died in January 1547 Why was Queen Mary I known as Bloody Mary? Queen Mary's father Henry VIII split with Rome over his divorce from her mother Catherine of Aragon and made himself head of the Protestant Church of England. When she became queen, Mary sought to re-establish Roman Catholicism as the official religion and carried out persecution of Protestant clergy and followers.

Over 200 died including Thomas Cranmer and several bishops who were burnt at the stake between 1555 and Mary's death in 1558. She was succeeded by her half sister Elizabeth I , daughter of Ann Boleyn, who re-established Protestantism as the official Church of England. How many British monarchs have been killed while they were king or queen? - King Edmund I was killed in 946 during a feast at Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, by an outlawed robber. - King Edward The Martyr was murdered by members of Aethelred's household at Corfe Castle in 978 - King Edmund II Ironside was assassinated in London in 1016 - King Harold II was killed by an arrow in his eye at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. - King William I The Conqueror suffered a fatal internal injury in 1087 after being thrown against the pommel of his saddle near Nantes in France. - King William II Rufus was killed in 1100 with an arrow while hunting in the New Forest.

Supposedly an accident, it has been suggested that he was shot deliberately on the instructions of his brother Henry. - Richard I The Lion Heart was killed by a crossbow bolt while besieging Châlus-Chabrol in France in 1199. - Edward II was murdered in 1327 at Berkeley Castle on the orders of his wife, Isabella - Richard II was starved to death in 1400 while imprisioned in Pontefract castle. He had been forced to abdicate in 1399 by his cousin Henry IV Bolingbroke. - Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London in 1471 during the 'Wars of the Roses' between the Lancastrians and Yorkists. - Edward V and his younger brother were imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1483 and never seen again. Their fate remains a mystery but the two princes are believed to have been murdered on orders from their uncle Richard III. - Richard III was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. - Henry VIII executed two of his six wives, Anne Boleyn in 1536 and Catherine Howard in 1542.

- Charles I was executed by Parliament in 1649 following the Civil War. Scottish Kings killed include James II at Roxburgh in 1460 when a cannon exploded, James III in battle near Stirling in 1488 by supporters of his son, James IV by Henry VIII's forces at Flodden in 1513, and Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587 on orders from her cousin Elizabeth I. Why was Edward I not Edward IV as he followed Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr & Edward the Confessor? The practice of using Roman numerals to distinguish kings and queens started only after there had been several with the same name, and particularly when there was a succession of father, son, grandson like Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III. Before then it was common for chroniclers and historians to use sobriquets such as Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, Edward the Confessor, Edmund Ironside, Aethelred the Unready, Alfred the Great, Harold Harefoot etc before this became impractical. It would be interesting to consider how the present Queen would be known if she were to be referred to in this way.

'Elizabeth the Great', 'Elizabeth the Steadfast ', 'Elizabeth the Dutiful', have been suggested, as well as 'Elizabeth the Diplomat' for her work and visits to so many countries, 'Elizabeth the Survivor' referring to her reign as the longest in British history,'Elizabeth the Wise', 'Elizabeth the Magnificent', 'Elizabeth the Supreme', 'Elizabeth the Faithful' for her untiring service over 60 years to her people and the Commonweatlh, 'Elizabeth the Enduring', 'Elizabeth the Correct', 'Elizabeth,the Benevolent', 'Elizabeth,the Tolerant', 'Elizabeth the Stalwart', 'Elizabeth the Beloved' and 'Elizabeth Britannia'. If you have a suggestion please contact us . What about King Arthur of the knights of the round table and Camelot? King Arthur is a legend and folklore of a Celtic king who fought to defend Britain from Saxon invaders in the 6th century. There is no historical evidence that he existed. Interestingly, Henry VII sought to revive the legend naming his eldest son Arthur. Unfortunately Prince Arthur died in 1502 aged 15 before he became King. His younger brother Henry followed his father instead and became Henry VIII .

Why was there no king or queen between 1649 and 1660? The English Civil War (1642-1649) was fought between the royalist forces loyal to King Charles I and the parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. The Royalist were defeated at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and following attempts to organize a Scottish invasion, Charles was caught and executed on January 30, 1649. It was the first time a British monarch had ever been publicly executed in recorded history. After the execution of the King, a republic was declared known as the Commonwealth of England (1649-1653) and then the Protectorate (1653-1658) with rule by parliament under Cromwell. Following his death in 1658, Cromwell was succeeded briefly by his son Richard before the monarchy was restored and Charles II became king in 1660. What is the Stone of Destiny? The Stone of Destiny is a symbolic stone that was used in the crowning of Kings of Scotland at the Palace of Scone in Perthshire, Scotland.

It is a block of sandstone which measures approximately 26 inches long x 16 wide x 11 high which rested beneath the throne. According to legend it was brought to Scotland by Fergus Mor from Ireland, where it had reached by way of Spain and Egypt from the Holy Land. It was used in the crowning of kings from Kenneth MacAlpin in 841 to John Balliol in 1292. In 1296 King Edward I of England took the stone to London where it was kept in Westminster Abbey for use in coronations. In 1950 a group of students stole the stone and took it back to Scotland in two pieces which were repaired by a Glasgow stone mason. They left it at Arbroath Abbey from where it was returned to Westminster Abbey. In 1996 the British Government decided in response to calls by Scottish nationalists to return it to Scotland. It arrived back on St Andrews Day 30 November 1996, almost exactly 700 years after it had been removed by Edward, and is now in Edinburgh Castle. When did Wales become part of the United Kingdom?

Wales became incorporated into England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, after it had been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282. Edward dubbed his eldest son Edward Prince of Wales, since which time the eldest son of each English monarch has borne the same title. In the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, Wales became legally part of the Kingdom of England, and subsequently part of the United Kingdom. When did Scotland become part of the United Kingdom? The Crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603 when James VI King of Scotland became James I King of England. In October 1604, one year later , he decreed that the Royal Title would use the term Great Brittaine to refer to the "one Imperiall Crowne" made up of England and Scotland. However despite James' wishes political union between Scotland and England did not take place until 1707 in the reign of Queen Anne. See union of the United Kingdom . When did Ireland become part of the United Kingdom?

Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1800 when the Act of Union with Ireland was passed by both the Irish and British parliaments Why is Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom when Southern Ireland is a different country? Northern Ireland, predominantly Protestant, and Southern Ireland, Catholic, split in 1920 with 6 of the 9 counties of Ulster remaining within the United Kingdom, and the remaining 26 counties being given home rule under the Government of Ireland Act. In 1922 the Southern counties became the Irish Free State and then since 1949 the Republic of Ireland. The Six Wives of King Henry VIII: An overview Survived Six Wives of Henry VIII. An Overview of the Tudor Queens: King Henry VIII , Tudor monarch, ruler of England in sixteenth-century Renaissance England, had six wives. The fates of the wives can be remembered as "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived." King Henry the Eighth in his youth was much like William Shakespeare's description of King Henry V — he was much more interested in arms and armor, swordplay, jousting, hunting, and women than in kingship.

He wrote love poems and composed songs such as "Pastime with Good Company." Throughout his life, he also loved regal fashion — after all, what was royalty if one could not dress like a royal. There still remains an elaborate suit of armor worn by King Henry VIII at the Tower of London Museum. However, the British Isles had to have a ruler serious about the business of the commonwealth, and one of those concerns was taking a wife and begetting an heir to the throne of England. It was not long since the Wars of the Roses , and succession had to be secured. Henry VIII's first wife, Queen Catharine of Aragon , who had been contracted to Henry's brother Arthur before his death, gave him a daughter, who was to become Queen Mary I , also known as Bloody Mary, for the number of Protestant executions in her reign. While married to Catharine, the King fell in love with Anne Boleyn to the point of obsession, which resulted in his desire to obtain a divorce.

The Pope and the Catholic Church would not grant it, which resulted in King Henry VIII breaking from the church of Rome — in one swoop England became a protestant country; it is due to this one factor that the Anglican church, or Church of England, exists. Henry VIII's second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn , gave birth to a daughter, who would later become Queen Elizabeth I , arguably the strongest and most successful monarch, King or Queen, in the history of Britain. The King still desired a male heir, a crown prince, and Anne Boleyn's contrary nature was wearing on the King. Anne Boleyn also had enemies at court, who helped bring about her downfall; accused of adultery and plotting to kill the king, and thus treason, there was no way for Anne to go, but to the headsman's block. The King had already begun to court one of the ladies of the court, Jane Seymour , whom he married shortly after. Henry VIII's third wife, Queen Jane Seymour succeeded in giving birth to an heir to the crown — Prince Edward, who later succeeded his father to the English throne as King Edward VI . Unfortunately, the Queen died a few days after childbirth from an infection.

The King's advisors, mainly Thomas Cromwell , suggested a match for him with Anne of Cleves , but it appears Holbein's portrait of Anne was more flattering than the reality. Anne became Henry VIII's fourth wife, but the King was not attracted to her (and there are stories that one of the reasons was her pervasive body odour), and the marriage quickly resulted in divorce. Anne stayed in England, however, and remained in good relations with the King and all three of his children, as well as with his future queens. King Henry VIII's fifth wife was Catherine Howard . An attractive young lady, she had been pushed into the marriage by her own ambition, as well as the pressure of her powerful family. King Henry VIII, however, was no longer a young man; he had become corpulent, and an old wound in his leg had never healed but remained an oozing sore — hardly the romantic ideal for a young woman. Further, the King had become irascible; long gone were the days of courtly love, when he wrote love letters to Anne Boleyn. Catherine soon started fooling around with young courtiers, and was eventually caught: chopping block for her.

King Henry VIII's sixth and last wife was Queen Katherine Parr . A well-educated lady, an excellent writer with a keen intelligence and solid moral fiber, Katherine Parr was the Queen to outlast the intrigues of court, the bad temper of the King, and the general rigors of court life. She was a sweet-tempered, kind person, and the children of King Henry VIII loved her. When King Henry VIII died, he was succeeded by his son, King Edward VI , the boy king. King Edward did not live very long, however, and was succeeded by Queen Mary I . Queen Mary, who was Catholic like her mother, married Philip II of Spain , a Catholic, and the English were in uproar. There were many plots and conspiracies on her life, and she grew very suspicious of her subjects — even of her sister, Elizabeth. The Wyatt rebellion, headed by Sir Thomas Wyatt the younger , son of the Poet Sir Thomas Wyatt , in particular seemed to suggest Elizabeth's involvement in a conspiracy. Lady Elizabeth was taken to the Tower of London, from where she wrote many letters to her sister, Queen Mary, declaring her innocence. Mary finally believed her, and while Wyatt suffered a traitor's death, Elizabeth was freed.

A few years later Queen Mary died, probably of ovarian cancer, and Elizabeth succeeded her on the throne as Queen Elizabeth I , The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, under whose reign the English Renaissance came to full bloom, and the arts and literature, especially poetry and theatre , flourished. It was in Queen Elizabeth's reign, the Elizabethan era, that English literature gained its shining stars: Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare . Early Modern literature would likely never have reached the heights it did, had it not been for Queen Elizabeth. To cite this page: Jokinen, Anniina. "The Six Wives of King Henry VIII." Luminarium. 16 Oct 2006. [Date you accessed the page]. Site copyright ©1996-2009 Anniina Jokinen . All Rights Reserved. Created by Anniina Jokinen on October 16, 2006. Last updated on May 16, 2009.

Katherine Parr Buried: 5 September 1548 St Mary's Chapel, Sudeley Castle Katherine Parr was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife Maud Green, both of whom were at the court of Henry VIII in his early reign. Maud was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon and named her daughter, born in 1512, after her. So, Henry VIII’s last wife was named after his first. Thomas Parr died in November 1517, leaving his three children, William , Katherine and Anne in the care of their mother. Maud managed the children’s education and the family estates and must have left an impression on her daughter of the greater role an independent woman could have in society. The education that Maud arranged for the children was similar to that of other noble figures of the time and at least in the case of Katherine, it ignited a life-long passion for learning. She was fluent in French, Latin and Italian and began learning Spanish when she was Queen. Katherine Parr’s first marriage was to Edward Borough, the son of Thomas, third Baron Borough of Gainsborough in 1529 when she was 17 years old.

Edward died only a few years later, probably in early 1533. It was during this marriage that Katherine’s mother Maud died, in December 1531. Katherine’s second marriage was to John Neville, third Baron Latimer of Snape Castle in Yorkshire, whom she married in the summer of 1534 when he was 41 and she was 22. Latimer had two children from his previous marriages so Katherine also became a stepmother for the first time. During the Pilgrimage of Grace a rebel mob forced Latimer to join them and later took Katherine and her stepchildren hostage at the castle. Latimer was able to eventually secure their freedom and managed to escape arrest for his associations with the rebellion after it was finally put down. Katherine’s ailing husband died in March 1543, leaving her a widow for the second time, now at the age of 31. It was around this time that Katherine was noticed by not only the King, but also Thomas Seymour , brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour . Katherine expressed her desire to marry Thomas Seymour after Latimer’s death, but the King’s request for her hand was one that Katherine felt it was her duty to accept.

Katherine and Henry VIII were married on July 12th in the Queen’s closet at Hampton Court Palace in a small ceremony attended by about 20 people. Katherine was interested in the reformed faith, making her enemies with the conservatives of Henry’s court. It was Katherine’s influence with the King and the Henry’s failing health that led to a plot against her in 1546 by the conservative faction. Katherine and her ladies were known to have had banned books which was grounds for arrest and execution on charges of heresy. To gain evidence against the Queen, Anne Askew , a well-known and active Protestant, was questioned and tortured, but refused to recant her faith or give evidence against Katherine and her ladies. However, there was enough other evidence against the Queen to issue a warrant for her arrest. The warrant was accidentally dropped and someone loyal to the Queen saw it and then quickly told her about it. This is a well-documented incident that has made its way into many historical fiction accounts. Sometimes the history itself is the best drama! After learning of the arrest warrant, Katherine was said to be very ill, either as a ruse to stall or from a genuine panic attack.

Henry went to see her and chastised her for her outspokenness about the reformed religion and his feeling that she was forgetting her place by instructing him on such matters. Katherine’s response in her defense was that she was only arguing with him on these issues so she could be instructed by him, and to take his mind off other troubles. Playing to Henry’s ego no doubt helped and Katherine was forgiven. Katherine was close with all three of her stepchildren as Henry’s wife and was personally involved in the educational program of the younger two, Elizabeth and Edward . She was also a patron of the arts and music. Katherine’s own learning and academic achievements, as alluded to previously, were impressive, and in 1545, her book “Prayers or Meditations” became the first work published by an English Queen under her own name. Another book, “The Lamentation of a Sinner”, was published after Henry VIII’s death. Henry VIII died in January 1547 and Katherine had probably expected to play some role in the regency for the new nine-year-old king, Edward VI, but this was not to be.

Only a few months after Henry’s death, Katherine secretly married Thomas Seymour, but the quickness and secret nature of the union caused a scandal. Katherine was still able to take guardianship of Princess Elizabeth and Seymour purchased the wardship of the king’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey . It was during this time that the rumors of a relationship between Elizabeth and Seymour arose and Elizabeth was sent to another household in the spring of 1548. After three previous marriages and at the age of 36, Katherine was pregnant for the first time and in June 1548, she moved to Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire to await the birth of her child. On August 30th she gave birth to a daughter named Mary. Katherine soon fell ill with puerperal fever, which was to claim her life in the morning hours of September 5th. Katherine was buried, with Lady Jane Grey as the chief mourner, in the chapel at Sudeley Castle, where the tomb can still be visited today.

The Life of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) ELIZABETH I, Queen of England and Ireland, born on Sunday the 7th of September 1533, and, like all the Tudors except Henry VII , at Greenwich Palace , was the only surviving child of Henry VIII by his second queen, Anne Boleyn . With such a mother and with Cranmer as her godfather she represented from her birth the principle of revolt from Rome, but the opponents of that movement attached little importance to her advent into the world. Charles V 's ambassador, Chapuys , hardly deigned to mention the fact that the king's amie had given birth to a daughter, and both her parents were bitterly disappointed with her sex. She was, however, given precedence over Mary , her elder sister by sixteen years, and Mary never forgave the infant's offence. Even this dubious advantage only lasted three years until Elizabeth's mother was beheaded. Elizabeth thus lost all hereditary title to the throne, and her early years of childhood can hardly have been happier than Mary's.

Nor was her legitimacy ever legally established; but after Jane Seymour 's death, when Henry seemed likely to have no further issue, she was by act of parliament [ Act of Succession, 1544 ] placed next in order of the succession after Edward and Mary and their issue; and this statutory arrangement was confirmed by the will which Henry VIII was empowered by statute to make. Queen Catherine Parr introduced some humanity into Henry's household, and Edward and Elizabeth were well and happily educated together, principally at old Hatfield House . They were there when Henry's death called Edward VI away to greater dignities, and Elizabeth was left in the care of Catherine Parr, who married in indecent haste Thomas, Lord Seymour , brother of the protector Somerset . This unprincipled adventurer, even before Catherine's death in September 1548, paid indelicate attentions to Elizabeth. Any attempt to marry her without the council's leave would have been treason on his part and would have deprived Elizabeth of her contingent right to the succession. Accordingly, when Seymour's other misbehaviour led to his arrest, his relations with Elizabeth were made the subject of a very trying investigation, which gave Elizabeth her first lessons in the arts of self-defence.

She proved equal to the occasion, partly because she was in all probability innocent of anything worse than a qualified acquiescence in Seymour's improprieties and a girlish admiration for his handsome face. He or his tragic fate may have touched a deeper chord, but it was carefully concealed. For the rest of Edward's reign Elizabeth's life was less tempestuous. She hardly rivalled Lady Jane Grey as the ideal Puritan maiden, but she swam with the stream, and was regarded as a foil to her stubborn Catholic sister. She thus avoided the enmity and the still more dangerous favour of Northumberland ; and some unknown history lies behind the duke's preference of the Lady Jane to Elizabeth as his son's wife and his own puppet for the throne. She thus escaped shipwreck in his crazy vessel, and rode by Mary's side in triumph into London on the failure of the plot. For a time she was safe enough; she would not renounce her Protestantism until Catholicism had been made the law of the land, but she followed Gardiner 's advice to her father when he said it was better that he should make the law his will than try to make his will the law.

It was not so much Elizabeth's religion as her nearness to the throne and the circumstances of her birth that endangered her life in Mary's reign. While Mary was popular Elizabeth was safe; but as soon as the Spanish marriage project had turned away English hearts Elizabeth inevitably became the centre of plots and the hope of the plotters. Had not Lady Jane still been alive to take off the edge of Mary's indignation and suspicion Elizabeth might have paid forfeit for Wyat's rebellion with her life instead of imprisonment. She may have had interviews with French agents who helped to foment the insurrection; but she was strong and wary enough to avoid Henry II's toils; for even in case of success she would have been the French king's puppet, placed on the throne, if at all, merely to keep it warm for Henry's prospective daughter-in-law, Mary Stuart . This did not make Mary Tudor any more friendly, and the Spaniards cried loud and long for Elizabeth's execution. She was sent to the Tower in March 1554, but few Englishmen were fanatic enough to want a Tudor beheaded.

The great nobles, the Howards, and Gardiner would not hear of such a proposal; and all the efforts of the court throughout Mary's reign failed to induce parliament to listen to the suggestion that Elizabeth should be deprived of her legal right to the succession. After two months in the Tower she was transferred to Sir Henry Bedingfield's charge at Woodstock , and at Christmas, when the realm had been reconciled to Rome and Mary was expecting issue, Elizabeth was once more received at court. In the autumn of 1555 she went down to Hatfield , where she spent most of the rest of Mary's reign, enjoying the lessons of Ascham , and planting trees which still survive. She had only to bide her time while Mary made straight her successor's path by uprooting whatever affection the English people had for the Catholic faith, Roman jurisdiction and Spanish control.

The Protestant martyrs and Calais between them removed all the alternatives to an insular national English policy in church and in state; and no sovereign was better qualified to lead such a cause than the queen who ascended the throne amid universal, and the Spaniards thought indecent, rejoicings at Mary's death on the 17th of November 1558. "Mere English" she boasted of being, and after Englishmen's recent experience there was no surer title to popular favour. No sovereign since Harold had been so purely English in blood; her nearest foreign ancestor was Catherine of France , the widow of Henry V , and no English king or queen was more superbly insular in character or in policy. She was the unmistakable child of the age so far as Englishmen shared in its characteristics, for with her English aims she combined some Italian methods and ideas. "An Englishman Italianate," ran the current jingle, "is a devil incarnate," and Elizabeth was well versed in Italian scholarship and statecraft. It is clear enough that, although, like her father, she was fond of ritual, she was absolutely devoid of the religious temperament, and that her ecclesiastical preferences were dictated by political considerations.

She was sincere enough in her dislike of Roman jurisdiction and of Calvinism; a daughter of Anne Boleyn could have little affection for a system which made her a bastard, and all monarchs agreed at heart with James I 's aphorism about "no bishop, no king." It was convenient, too, to profess Lutheran sympathies, for Lutheranism was now an established, monarchical and comparatively respectable religion, very different from the Calvinism against which monarchs directed the Counter-reformation from political motives. Lutheran dogma, however, had few adherents in England, though its political theory coincided with that of Anglicanism in the 16th century. The compromise that resulted from these conflicting forces suited Elizabeth very well; she had little dislike of Catholics who repudiated the papacy, but she was forced to rely mainly on Protestants, and had little respect for any form of ecclesiastical self-government. She valued uniformity in religion, not as a safeguard against heresy, but as a guarantee of the unity of the state. The outlines of her foreign policy are sketched elsewhere, and her courtships were diplomatic.

Contemporary gossip said that she was debarred from matrimony by a physical defect; and her cry when she heard that Mary queen of Scots had given birth to a son is the most womanly thing recorded of Elizabeth. Her features were as handsome as Mary's, but she had little fascination, and in spite of her many suitors no man lost his head over Elizabeth as men did over Mary. She was far too 'masculine' in mind and temperament, and her extravagant addiction to the outward trappings of femininity was probably due to the absence or atrophy of deeper feminine instincts. In the same way the impossibility of marriage made her all the freer with her flirtations, and she carried some of them to lengths that scandalized a public unconscious of Elizabeth's security. She had every reason to keep them in the dark, and to convince other courts that she could and would marry if the provocation were sufficient. She could not marry Philip II , but she held out hopes to more than one of his Austrian cousins whenever France or Mary Stuart seemed to threaten; and later she encouraged two French princes when Philip had lost patience with Elizabeth and made Mary Stuart his protegee.

Her other suitors were less important, except Leicester , who appealed to the least intellectual side of Elizabeth and was always a cause of distraction in her policy and her ministers. Queen Elizabeth signing the Death Warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth was terribly handicapped by having no heirs of her body and no obvious English successor. She could not afford to recognize Mary's claim, for that would have been to alienate the Protestants, double the number of Catholics, and, in her own phrase, to spread a winding-sheet before her eyes; for all would have turned to the rising sun. Mary was dangerous enough as it was, and no one would willingly make his rival his heir. Elizabeth could hardly be expected to go out of her way and ask parliament to repeal its own acts for Mary's sake; probably it would have refused. Nor was it personal enmity on Elizabeth's part that brought Mary to the block. Parliament had long been ferociously demanding Mary's execution, not because she was guilty but because she was dangerous to the public peace.

She alone could have given the Spanish Armada any real chance of success; and as the prospect of invasion loomed larger on the horizon, fiercer grew the popular determination to remove the only possible centre of a domestic rising, without which the external attack was bound to be a failure. Elizabeth resisted the demand, not from compassion or qualms of conscience, but because she dreaded the responsibility for Mary's death. She wished Paulet would manage the business on his own account, and when at last her signature was extorted she made a scapegoat of her secretary Davison who had the warrant executed. The other great difficulty, apart from the succession, with which Elizabeth had to deal, arose from the exuberant aggressiveness of England, which she could not, and perhaps did not want to, repress. Religion was not really the cause of her external dangers, for the time had passed for crusades, and no foreign power seriously contemplated an armed invasion of England for religion's sake. But no state could long tolerate the affronts which English seamen offered Spain.

The common view that the British Empire has been won by purely defensive action is not tenable, and from the beginning of her reign Englishmen had taken the offensive, partly from religious but also from other motives. They were determined to break up the Spanish monopoly in the new world, and in the pursuit of this endeavour they were led to challenge Spain in the old. For nearly thirty years Philip put up with the capture of his treasure-ships, the raiding of his colonies and the open assistance rendered to his rebels. Only when he had reached the conclusion that his power would never be secure in the Netherlands or the New World until England was conquered, did he despatch the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth delayed the breach as long as she could, probably because she knew that war meant taxation, and that taxation was the most prolific parent of revolt. With the defeat of the Spanish Armada Elizabeth's work was done, and during the last fifteen years of her reign she got more out of touch with her people.

That period was one of gradual transition to the conditions of Stuart times; during it practically every claim was put forward that was made under the first two Stuarts either on behalf of parliament or the prerogative, and Elizabeth's attitude towards the Puritans was hardly distinguishable from James I 's. But her past was in her favour, and so were her sex and her Tudor tact, which checked the growth of discontent and made Essex 's rebellion a ridiculous fiasco. He was the last and the most wilful but perhaps the best of her favourites, and his tragic fate deepened the gloom of her closing years. The loneliness of a queen who had no husband or children and no relatives to mention must at all times have been oppressive; it grew desolating in old age after the deaths of Leicester , Walsingham , Burghley and Essex, and Elizabeth died, the last of her race, on the 24th of March 1603. Excerpted from: Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed., Vol IX. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910. 283. Father

Question: Which English Queen had 17 children and outlived all of them?
Answer: Queen Anne